


(Choose wisely who deserves) A second chance

by moonlight_petal



Series: (Choose wisely who deserves) A second chance [1]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Bullying, Canon-Typical Violence, Car Accidents, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hospitals, Hurt Mac, Hurt/Comfort, Jack's Sister - Freeform, Mac is a trouble magnet, Protective Jack, Team Feels, Team as Family, Thornton is mentioned, Worried Bozer, Worried Jack, kind of, worried Riley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-07 00:35:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17950220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlight_petal/pseuds/moonlight_petal
Summary: "Hey, yeah, you've reached my voicemail, sorry about that but I'm sure you know the drill, leave a message and I'll call back as soon as I can..."Jack pulled his phone away with a growl, he wouldn't leave another message, it's not like he already left his partner and best friend three already. After a second, the man cursed and changed his mind, calling again, waiting for the inevitable message and the beep.or:Mac embarks on a little trip to visit Valerie in Mission City but goes missing somewhere along the way.It's up to the team to track him down again and find out who's behind the whole thing.





	(Choose wisely who deserves) A second chance

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually meant as a nice, fluffy hurt/comfort piece and then turned into this. It took me quite a while to finish but I'm mostly satisfied how it turned out in the end.  
> Shout out to my best friend who kindly helped me and provided me with the perfect name choice for Jack's sister. As far as I know there never was a name mentioned in canon. Jack talked once or twice about a niece or nephew. In my head Jack has two sisters and the one mentioned here is the younger one.  
> Also I have no medical knowledge at all, so yeah, creative licence on that one.
> 
> Other than that, I hope you enjoy this story! And I'd happy to know what you thought of it.

(Choose wisely who deserves) A second chance

 

The trunk door of the red truck fell close with a resounding snap and Mac walked around the side with a smile. Jack was leaning against the driver side door, arms crossed in front of him, sun glasses in place. Only the fine frown lines on his forehead betrayed his less than relaxed state.

 

"You sure you'll be alright? I mean, I still can call my sis that I'm not able to make it and go with you if you want?" he asked, not for the first time since they found out that they had a bit of a date overlap. Several weeks before Rebecca, Jack's sister, had asked him if he could get that weekend off and help her with some moving work. Since it had been a while that he had seen her, the older agent had jumped at the invitation, he didn't mind some heavy lifting after all. And he had invited Mac to tag along.

 

A week before however, Valerie had invited Mac to the science fair of her school. The two had been exchanging frequent emails and he had helped direct her towards the right solutions when she had run into trouble with something but she never actually told Mac what she was doing exactly. Sure, he had a vague idea based on what they *had* talked about but he couldn't deny that she had made him curious. So he had agreed to come, leaving Mac going one way and Jack the other. It didn't sit right with his partner.

 

"Yes Jack, I'm perfectly capable of driving to my home town on my own. You go help your sister, I know how much you've been looking forward to seeing her. It's no big deal really. I'll be home before you know it... in fact, I'll definitely be home before you anyway. Stop fretting and enjoy the rare free weekend with you actual family." Mac said, laughing softly. With anyone else he would have been pissed off at the mother-henning but he knew Jack, knew that the man worried about him constantly. He was a textbook helicopter parent after all. Sure at times it felt almost suffocating but he meant well always. And him going to Mission City, with the search for his dad and everything rather raw still, it was understandable that Jack was reluctant to let him go alone.

 

"You know that I don't differentiate between you and the bond I have with my sister, right? Family is family, no matter what the blood work says." Jack said vehemently, it was obviously important to him that Mac understood that.

 

"I know but the point still stands. Look, we see each other constantly, Rebecca gets to see you... I don't know, twice a year if she's lucky? It wouldn't be right to keep you away from her. Besides, she needs your help, Jack! And I'll be busy 'geeking out' with Valerie over science the whole weekend, how you would put it. You'd be bored soon enough anyway. So go to your sister and let me drive down there by myself." the blond gripped both Jack's shoulders, squeezed them gently before he pushed him to the side to get to the car door.

 

"And Bozer really can't go with you either?" Jack tried his last resort, not that he didn't know that it was useless because they both knew that Bozer couldn't.

 

"Jack, we've been over this. Bozer has a special class at the Phoenix, he couldn't go if he wanted to. And for the record, he would have jumped at the chance to go, but this class is important for his status as field agent. Now, leave me alone! I'll be fine *and* I'll be late if I don't leave now. You too, by the way. Better get a move on, old man." he grinned, going in for an embrace. It was a good way to distract Jack as well, he didn't initiate hugs often after all.

 

The arms of the older one tightened around Mac and he playfully coughed as if Jack was cutting his air supply or something with it.

"Alright, you're right. Drive safe, you hear me? And if you can remember it despite the big nerd reunion, let me know when you make it there, okay?"

 

"Promise, you'll be the first to know!" Mac said and opened the door and slid behind the wheel, settling in for a couple of hours drive. He waved out the window as he backed out of the drive-way.

 

~*~

 

_A blinding light..._

_A hard crash..._

_Screeching metal..._

_The smell of gasoline mixed with blood..._

_Hands pulling at him... yells... curses..._

_And pain... so much pain... and then..._

_...darkness..._

 

~*~

 

"Hey, yeah, you've reached my voicemail, sorry about that but I'm sure you know the drill, leave a message and I'll call back as soon as I can..."

 

Jack pulled his phone away with a growl, he wouldn't leave another message, it's not like he already left his partner and best friend three already. After a second, the man cursed and changed his mind, calling again, waiting for the inevitable message and the beep.

 

"Buddy, seriously, can you pull you ass out of science land long enough to let me know you're alright? You promised! Call me!" he snapped, turning around and jumping on the spot.

 

"Jesus, you surprised me, don't  sneak up on me, you know better than that, Beccs!" he grumbled.

 

"Sorry, I just thought you might like a fresh beer... what's up with you, anyway? You've been checking your phone almost obsessively since you arrived here, you're almost worse than all the teenagers around here. Something wrong?" she asked, sitting on the armrest of the chair Jack had dropped into with the fresh beer.

 

"Sorry about that, I'm not usually like this..." he replied with a sigh, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

 

"Is it a woman?" his sister asked, wiggling her eyebrows at him which made him snort softly despite everything.

 

"No woman, sorry... no, it's Mac..."

 

And then it was her turn to sigh, fondly however.

"Of course it is..." she had met the blond man a handful of times and frankly she found it rather adorable how her brother and the younger man had banded together, almost joined by the hip. If Rebecca was honest she had been a little surprised when Jack had told her that he would be coming alone after all.

 

"It's probably nothing and I'm just giving myself a heartattack for no reason..." he admitted. "He had a trip planned today as well and he promised to let me know when he got there alright but he he didn't. If my calculations are right -and in this case they are, trust me- he should have gotten there hours ago already. And my calls go directly to voice mail." he explained, taking a sip of the beer, leaning slightly into her side as she slung a comforting arm around his shoulders.

 

"I'm sure he just got distracted and he'll blow up your phone soon enough, feeling guilty like never before, that's how he works, am I right?" she asked gently.

 

Jack took a deep breath and slumped a little more.

"Yeah, you're right. He went there to meet his freaky female mini-me for her science fair thing, so it wouldn't be so far fetched that he got distracted... thing is, if he promises something he's usually good for his word, that's what worries me... but well, he'll call at some point I guess."

 

"Exactly, now come back in, I have a couple of boxes I need to finish up packing and I could use a hand with that..." she hopped to her feet and went inside the old house she would be leaving behind finally.

 

~*~

 

A stretcher got hurriedly pushed along the hallway, several nurses helping the emergency personnel, a doctor quickly scanning the rushed chart they had written during the drive from the site to the hospital.

 

"Alright, what do we have... male, white, blond hair, late twenties to early thirties, unconscious, vitals are low but relatively steady all things considered... severe blood loss likely due to several cuts, bruises, broken bones in his right leg and a dislocated shoulder on the left... Spinal injuries uncertain, internal injuries uncertain, head injury probable... no identification. Well, our John Doe certainly got pulled through the grinder... take him to radiology, I need top to bottom X-rays and a CT scan of his head, then we'll know more..." the doc stepped aside and let the nurses take over for now, she added her next steps to the chart, went ahead to block an OR and then turned to the EMTs.

 

"You sure there was no ID?" she asked, not unkindly, she knew they did their job properly but maybe something had been overlooked in the heat of the moment.

 

The older of the EMTs shook his head.

"We checked, there was definitely nothing on him and the car was only a charred carcass, if there has been any form of identification, it's gone up in flames with it. Also doc, heads up, the police will call you up in the morning about him, I guess. They seemed to assume that this wasn't a simple accident..."

 

The woman frowned, that certainly was interesting and it explained the lack of identification if it really wasn't an accident. They were a small hospital, they didn't usually get cases like that.

"Thanks for the warning, good job! And good luck for the rest of your shift!" she smiled, waving them off then.

 

She looked down at the preliminary chart of her mystery patient.

"Who are you..." she whispered and put checking dental records on her to do list.

 

~*~

 

Bleary and disoriented Jack blinked his eyes open, not entirely sure what had woken him up at first before his phone rang again and he shook his head to get rid of the cobwebs of sleep and the not insignificant amount of beer left behind as he grabbed his phone.

 

"Bozer? What... you realise it's not even 5 in the morning?" he wanted to know from the person on the other side of the line.

 

"Err... actually, no, not really, sorry if I woke you up. I just got back home from this 12 hour interrogation drill thing, I'm toast man, I tell you I thought spy school was bad already... anyway when I came in the light of our answering machine was flashing like crazy, so I checked that just now..." Bozer explained and even through the sleepiness, Jack heard the concern and tiredness in his younger friend's voice.

 

"Wait a minute, you have an answering machine? Since when?" his tired brain decided to latch on that piece of information for now.

 

"Since forever, Jack but nobody actually calls our landline usually, so yeah, I was confused too. Have you heard from Mac? Because it was Valerie who left the messages, apparently Mac didn't show up and she had tried to get a hold of him but couldn't? I tried myself and only got his voicemail. Did plans change or something? Are you guys out on mission?"

 

A cold feeling of dread settled in Jack's stomach as he sat up and switched the light on.

"We're not, Boze. I'm at my sister's place and Mac drove off to see Valerie just as planned yesterday morning." Jack said slowly, carefully as if he could soften the blow of what this information would do to Bozer. The younger man was with the Phoenix long enough that he was able to quickly connect the dots even in his state of exhaustion.

 

"Well shit..."

 

"I knew something wasn't right when he didn't answer my calls or at least text... Mac keeps his promises, always! I knew it! Dalton, you fucking idiot!" he berated himself, swiftly got to his feet, fighting with his jeans with one hand. "Listen, I'll come back as quick as I can, not entirely sure how soon that will be though. Call Riley, have her track his phone, maybe she can pinpoint the place he went off the grid."

 

"You realise that Riley will kill me and make some awesome new boots out of my skin when I wake her up right now, yeah?" Bozer said softly and not unjustly scared of the young hacker.

 

Although he didn't really feel it, Jack chuckled at that.

"She won't, I promise Boze. Tell her I made you do it and if she wants to be pissed at someone, it's me. Although I'm sure when you explain what happened, Mac's safety will be a bigger concern for her and she'll forgive us."

 

"True, true... yeah, I'll do that... see you at the Phoenix, man. Sorry to ruin your one weekend off." Bozer said.

 

"Don't be, it's not your fault! See you then, Boze!"

 

Jack quickly collected his small travel bag, made a detour to the kitchen and took the handful of minutes it took to prepare a cup of coffee for his sister. The news of him leaving like that would go over better that way. No way in hell would he just leave her without at least saying goodbye in person, he couldn't do that to her even if it meant waking her up in the middle of the night.

 

Silently he slipped into her bedroom, huffing softly at the way she was sprawled in shirt and boxershorts over her bed just like she had done when they were kids and teens.

 

"Hey Beccs..." he softly shook her shoulder, glad that she wasn't prone to punching the people who woke her up like he was. "Wake up, will you!" he whispered a little more loudly.

 

"Jack? Wh-what? What time is it?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep.

 

"Here, coffee, just the way you like it. It's actually way too early and I hate to do this but there's an emergency back home, I have to go..." he said.

 

Wordlessly she took the cup, inhaled the smell and took a sip, working hard at bringing her brain online.

"What happened?"

 

"Mac went missing... I had a feeling something wasn't right, I just got the call from his room mate. His phone's still off and he never made it to his destination. Valerie called him. So sorry, I didn't mean to leave you hanging..."

 

Rebecca fixed him with a hard stare.

"None of that, Jack! Go! You forget, I know Mac and more importantly, I know you. If you say the kid's in trouble, you better get your ass over there pronto. The extra set of hands would have been nice, but I can handle moving on my own. Go and keep me posted, alright? If there is anything I can do, let me know!" she pressed a quick kiss to his stubbly cheek. "And thanks for the coffee, smart move!" she smirked, taking another sip.

 

Jack jumped to his feet.

"Will do, you're the best as always! I owe you one!" he called and left the house quickly, breaking way too many traffic laws on his way to the next airport in his rental car.

 

~*~

 

"What do we have?" were Jack's first words in greeting when he made his way into the war room, a little under 5 hours later. (And a good amount of cash poorer because he had paid someone to trade their ticket for the otherwise sold out earlier plane.) "Riley?"

 

In the war room, Riley was apparently checking various traffic cams, while Bozer probably meant to help her but must have dozed off for a moment and had jerked awake again when Jack arrived.

 

"Not all that much, I'm afraid... his phone went out about 90 minutes after he left but there is no sign of anything amiss around the area. My best guess, he probably forgot to charge it or something. That would be typical for him. Since then I've been trying to follow his steps on the traffic cams but it's slow going... sorry I don't have better news for you." the woman said, obviously frustrated with the lack of useful information to share.

 

"Nah, you did your best, Riles. Can't help it that Mac, for all his boy scout qualities, isn't always as prepared as we'd like him to be." Jack said, grumbling under his breath. "What can I do?"

 

"Well four eyes see more than two, you can help me with the footage and Bozer, seriously, either you try to take a proper nap or you go and get some serious caffeine in you but you're starting to make me jumpy..." she said but her voice was a little worried for her friend. She knew he hadn't slept for more than a day, worrying about Mac didn't help much now.

 

"I'd like to, but I can't go to sleep when we have no idea what happened to Mac!" Bozer said, unhappily.

 

"You can, Boze, I'm here now, I'll take over for you. Go take a power nap and as soon as something crops up, we come and get you!" Jack said, nodding towards the door, in his best 'listen to your big brother' voice.

 

"But..."

 

"No buts, go, lie down, it'll do you a world of good. I mean this in the best of ways, kid, but like this you're no help to Mac and he wouldn't want this either. You know that!" Jack said sternly. With a sigh and a resigned nod Bozer left the war room.

 

"Alright, walk me through this, Riles..." the older man plopped himself next to the hacker, listening to her explanation what she'd been looking for exactly.

 

**

 

"We got him!" Matty announced her presence in the room about an hour after Jack's arrival, jerking him and Riley out of their tunnel of scanning licence plates and traffic cameras.

 

"What? Where? How?" Jack had come to his feet quickly, staring at his boss.

 

"We just got the notification that someone tried to check Mac's dental records and his finger prints. They of course came back to them as unreadable but we automatically got flagged with the info, a safety measure exactly in case something like this happens." Matty explained, looking in two very concerned faces.

 

"I don't like the sound of this..." Jack whispered.

 

"I don't either Jack, our boy is apparently listed as a John Doe at a small town hospital about threequarters of the way to his destination after a major car wreck. And when I say major, I *mean* major, the whole nine yards of police investigation, they are apparently assuming foul play and from the little I found so far? I think the very same and whoever did this, I want them found and in custody yesterday!" she send the reports and the pictures of the charred remains of what once was Mac's car to the big screen.

 

"John Doe...?" Riley replied, her voice giving out on the last syllable while Jack whispered a stream of toneless 'no's.

 

"Is he... dead?" Bozer asked from the door way. He had heared only the second part of Matty's explanation and tears were already gathering in his eyes and silently running down his cheeks.

 

It was as if someone flooded the room with ice cold water until Matty caught herself.

 

"What? No! God no. Mac is still very much alive but in bad shape and he has yet to regain consciousness. The preliminary medical reports talk about severe trauma to the head, there is some cerebral hemorrhaging and swelling. They assume that this is the cause for the comatose state he's in at the moment but given the circumstances it is a smaller issue, they have it under suitable control and the swelling should go back in another day or two and they're hoping that he'll come around by himself then. Other than that there are several broken bones they had to stabilize surgically. When everything is said and done? Mac has one hell of a recovery road ahead of him but the tentative prognosis is that he should be able to make a recovery, they can only be sure after he wakes up however." the woman shared that information with the team.

 

Jack rubbed a hand over his face, hiding the stray tears in his eyes that way.

"Jesus woman... next time you lead with that information, alright? I mean I'm all for hunting down whoever did this but that's not the point right now..."

 

"Yeah I'm sorry, Jack, I might be used to long days and all but when I get called out of bed at the asscrack of dawn after supervising *several* 12 hour interrogation drills, I might not be thinking properly just yet." Matty snapped harshly, before she closed her eyes and took a deep and calming breath.

 

"Okay, moving on, I want you lot on the road immediately. I want you to check on Mac, I don't even care what you tell the hospital staff how you found him and make sure he's properly taken care of and then I want you at this police station and on point of this investigation!"

 

"Yes ma'am!" Jack replied, leaving the war room to his locker to gather his stuff without another word.

 

~*~

 

The drive to the hospital had been a long and excruciating one for the three Phoenix members. Jack had stoically looked out front, pushing the speed to the limit, while Riley had her rig out, pulling up all the reports from the hospital and the police investigation so far, checking what she could but conveniently the part of the way Mac's 'accident' had occured, was a camera blind spot. Bozer had rested a bit more before he dialled Valerie's number and told her the news. Well part of the news, that Mac had been in an accident, that he surely would be alright in no time and he would call her again when Mac was allowed visitors. (That and they had the culprits in custody.)

 

As if he was in pursuit of someone, Jack ran into the hospital the moment they arrived, Riley and Bozer hot on his heels.

"Excuse me, was there a patient brought here at some point yesterday? The name is Angus MacGyver?" he asked the first nurse he could find.

 

"Sorry, my shift just started, give me a second and I'll check the computer for you. What was the name again?" she said, leading them to the counter.

 

"MacGyver, Angus... he's blond, 28 years old, a bit on the skinny side... he was on a road trip yesterday but never arrived at his destination and we can't get a hold of him... please..." Jack said pleadingly. Riley and Bozer stood in the background, silently impressed by Jack's show.

 

"We don't have any patient by that name, I'm sorry... but there was someone brought in that would about fit that description, the doctor on call should still be in the hospital, if you maybe have a picture of the man you're looking for, she might be able to identify him for you."

 

"Sure, sure..." Jack replied, quickly pulling up a picture of their little group around the fire pit after their last successful mission.

 

By the time he found that, the doctor had arrived and the nurse had explained to her what Jack wanted to know.

"Is it him? Is he here? Please tell me he's alive!" Jack whispered brokenly, handing the phone with the picture to the doctor.

 

She studied the picture, looked back up at Jack and the other two, who had taken their cue from Jack and huddled around him, worried expressions on their faces.

 

"I can confirm to you, that this is the patient who was brought in last night without ID, Mr...." she said, prompting him to introduce himself.

 

"Please excuse my manners. Dalton, Jack Dalton." he replied, relief that they had found him on display for the nurse and the doctor next to her. "We're friends and colleagues, these are Riley and Bozer." he added, gesturing at the younger two.

 

"Mr. Dalton. As I said, I can confirm that this is indeed the person you're looking for, if you could, please answer a couple of question about the patient." the doctor asked professionally and patiently.

 

"Sure, whatever you need, can we see him?" And that was the really interesting question now.

 

Again the woman studied the three people in front of her, hesitating.

"Without betraying the patient confidentiality, you have to undestand that Mr. MacGyver was it?" she checked the name on the computer screen the nurse had already looked up. "Mr. MacGyver had a rather bad accident and he's currently in the ICU, only family can be allowed in to see him." she explained.

 

That was Bozer's cue to get involved in the conversation.

"I appreciate that but we're pretty much all the family Mac has, it's us or no one. Him and me should actually be listed as his emergency contacts, he needs us with him!" he  exclaimed, pointing at Jack and then himself.

 

"Well if that is the case it should be easy to confirm your statement, that won't take too long. In the mean time, I need some information on the patient." the doctor said, nodding at the nurse who called her, leaving the confirmation in her hands.

 

**

 

"My god, kid...  trouble is seriously out to get you..." Jack whispered a little choked as he entered Mac's room a little later. Of course their story had checked out, if it hadn't been already a fact, Matty would have made sure that it was by now. Actually, Jack wasn't entirely sure if she hadn't done that after all or if Mac had added Riley to his emergency contacts on his own already. But that was a question for another time.

 

"Oh hell..." Bozer added, just as choked as Jack was. Riley didn't even say anything at all, but the hissing intake of breath and the hand over her own mouth with the wide, helpless eyes spoke clearly what she was thinking in that moment.

 

Their blond friend was close to unrecognisable at this point, bruised and swollen, the head tightly packed in a bandage with various lines sticking out. His leg in a cast, his shoulder stabilised and all the other little things. Machines beeping and hissing, painting graphs and numbers in bright green colour. A two-dimensional mirror of Mac's life.

 

There was an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and that in itself was a relief to Jack. It meant, although they were helping him with upping the oxygen in his system, he was breathing on his own. Jack could deal with a lot of things, even if it meant seeing Mac hurt like hell, but seeing him not really breathing but being kept alive by a ventilator, that might have broken him right then and there. The doc had told them before, but he allowed himself to believe it just now that he saw it. Everything else would heal at some point. Mac was breathing and fighting and that was good, because it meant before they would know it, they would have their Mac back.

 

For a little while they stood gathered around Mac's bed silently, Jack and Bozer each one of Mac's hands in theirs while Riley gently touched the leg that wasn't elevated in a cast. They all needed the contact in that moment and were sure that Mac appreciated the support as well even if he was in no place to let them know.

 

"What happens now?" Riley broke the silence finally, looking at Jack for guidance in this case.

 

Jack licked his lips, buying himself a little time before he answered.

"I think what we should do now is heading to the police station and see what they have so far, let them walk us through whatever evidence they have. As much as it pains me but we need to check Mac's car, well what's left of it anyway, and take more pictures. The local forces did that already, I know, but we know better how our team works so maybe more pictures will help. We probably should go back to the scene as well, get a good look at the surroundings. That being said, I think one of us should stay with Mac, he needs to know that we're by his side and it's not like all three of us are needed to gather intel." he exchanged a quick glance with Riley. "Bozer, would you like to take the first shift here while Riley and I go check things out?"

 

The younger man startled out of his thoughts and intense study of Mac's still form when Jack adressed him.

"What? Oh yeah, yeah, I'd like that actually!" he admitted.

 

Jack nodded, squeezed Mac's hand one last time and then turned to Riley.

"Alright, let's go, see what we can do to hunt down whoever did this to Mac." he slung a steadying arm around the hacker and pulled her out of the room.

 

~*~

 

At the station, Jack and Riley were positively surprised that Matty apparently had already taken matters in her own hands and called ahead to make clear who would be running the show in this specific case. As it were, Jack and Riley were already expected and everything was presented to them in great detail.

 

The older agent had to admit that he was actually impressed by the work these men had already accomplished. They were talking about small town police after all. Usually the most exciting stuff they got was shoplifting or bar fights. But they did proper and thorough police work for them.

 

After looking through all the evidence and reports, they were shown the remains of Mac's car and that one was a hard blow to the stomach really, because it looked even worse than it had on the pictures. Riley snapped a lot of close up pictures anyway, although Jack surmised that it was mostly to have something to do instead of really thinking about what she saw.

 

The last place was the crossing the accident happened at and that one was the only really interesting one to see now. Jack, with his skills and experience, looked a little differently on the set-up than the cops had done. It didn't really bring him any useful information for the moment however which was frustrating to no end to the former Delta.

 

Riley confirmed with the officer who had accompanied them that on that particular stretch really were no cameras. She sighed.

 

"Hey Matty, it's Jack..."

Riley and he were back in his car on their way back to the hospital, hungry, exhausted and frustrated.

"Jack! What do you have? How is Mac?" their boss asked immediately.

 

"Mac's... I guess he's doing alright, all things considered but whoever did this really had it in for him..." Jack sighed.

 

"Why would you say that?" Matty asked, curiosity and concern in her voice.

 

"It's about the only thing we are reasonably sure of, that this was a planned hit on Mac. That, or we're dealing with a really big asshole with a major sadistic streak." Riley replied. "All the evidence the local police gathered already, plus the few small things we noticed while looking over that, suggest that Mac had been hit and pushed off the road, forcibly pulled out of his car and maybe even beat up and then left there while they set his car on fire. The report of the specialist of the fire department says that even if Mac's car would have caught fire by itself, it would never have burned out like that. He says, to turn it into the state it is in now, they had to use an accelarant and not just a little bit either. Someone wanted to destroy any and all evidence and ID Mac might have had."

 

"Okay, let me get this straight, someone crashed our boy, pulled him out just to beat him up and then set his car on fire? Why leave him there? If they wanted to kill him, why not leave him in the car?" Matty asked.

 

"Well, Matty, let's count our blessings that they didn't, alright? The way Mac looks, he wouldn't have made it out on his own. I wouldn't even be surprised if they already thought him dead or something. And if he wasn't already, the officer who walked us through the crash site, mentioned that this stretch of road isn't frequently used by the locals, cars passing through are few and far between. The way things are, Mac had a shit ton of luck that someone passed by in time to get him help." Jack said and it took all the strength he had left to make his voice as steady as it was.

 

"I'm glad, Jack, believe me! But it doesn't make much sense... anyway, what's the plan now?" the director asked.

 

"We sent the pictures of the car to the Phoenix lab and I'm still sifting through the video material of the cameras that are around, but without knowing what we are looking for? There is not much chance that we'll get a lot of info out of that..." Riley said.

 

"Meaning?"

 

"Meaning, that we have a great stinking pile of nothing to go on right now unless our specialists can find something on the pictures we didn't see. Other than that? We can only wait for Mac to hopefully wake up soon to provide us with some information..." Jack groaned.

 

"Great... damn it, blondie..." Matty sighed and even without seeing her, Jack and Riley could imagine how she was standing in the middle of the war room, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Alright, I'll try to speed up the process here, you keep in contact with the cops and check over the things once again, other than that, stay with Mac. I pulled some strings, they shouldn't give you a hard time about staying after hours anymore. Riley, in case one of you wants or needs it, you're in charge of booking accomodation, you know the drill. I'll call as soon as something turns up."

 

"You got it, boss!" Riley called out.

 

"Thanks, Matty, much appreciated!" Jack sighed before ending the call. He was really glad because the last thing he had time or patience for that day was to argue with some doctor or nurse about visiting hours or anything.

 

**

 

When the two of them returned to the hospital, after a quick pit stop to buy some food for them all, they were surprised when the nurse caught them before they could walk down the hallway they had taken earlier. Matty's interference apparently hadn't just granted them around the clock visiting rights but Mac had been taken into a bigger, private room, that had a two-seater couch in the corner in addition to the two chairs next to the bed. Just from the look of them, they already looked significantly more comfortable than the usual hospital furniture.

 

"Huh, Matty sure must have pulled a lot of strings... remind me to buy her her favourite chocolates when all this is over, Riles..." Jack sighed softly as he dropped in the unoccupied chair opposite of Bozer who still had a gentle grip on Mac's hand and was sleeping with his head on the edge of the mattress.

 

"Will do..." the hacker replied just as softly. Riley had taken up the couch and already had her laptop out again, continuing her search through hours of traffic footage.

 

"This doesn't make sense..." she grumbled after a while, startling Jack out of his own thoughts.

 

"What do you mean?" he wanted to know, turning a little more towards her.

 

"I mean, the stretch of road Mac had been attacked at, for lack of a better word, had no traffic cameras, that's all fine and good but one should think that this road should cross others where there *are* cameras. Shouldn't I be able to easily identify a car that comes from that direction that should also have crash damage?" she looked at the older man.

 

"Hmm... actually you're right. If that road isn't used by locals there shouldn't be much traffic from that direction on the cameras either..." he nodded, intrigued.

 

"Exactly, and yet there is nothing there. It's like whoever crashed Mac, disappeared into thin air..." Riley said, glaring at her laptop.

 

"Alright, so that leaves us with two options, if I'm correct. Either they left the car hidden somewhere and took off on foot or something *or* someone has made them disappear. And I admit I might be the first one to believe in superstition and magic, but I highly doubt that's the case here, so... could it be possible that someone tempered with that footage?" Jack propped his elbows on his knees, looking questioningly at the hacker.

 

Riley's eyes widened at Jack's words, he fingers flying over her keyboard once again.

"That's entirely possible, the system encryption of those traffic cameras is a joke to begin with. Seriously that I haven't thought about that from the start, I'm so stupid!" she banged her own hand against her forehead in frustration.

 

In a flash Jack was at her side, gripping the hand gently.

"Hey, none of that, alright? It's not your fault, any one of us could have thought about this possibility a lot earlier already as well. Just because you're our computer genius doesn't have to mean you have to know everything. And we're all compromised in this case anyway, it's Mac who's on the line here. It's been a really long day. Why don't you take a break now, sweetheart. Eat something, take a nap and go back to this with fresh eyes later. We can't do anything at the moment anyway, as much as it pains me to say so. But I can't have you faint on me later because you're pushing too hard now." he said, prying her laptop out of her hands and placed it on the floor. "Here..." he added, handing her a packed sandwich and a bottle of water instead.

 

Riley had whined in protest but let go of her rig in the end. Jack was right, she needed to pace herself, because this case was shaping up to be a long term thing. And she might not admit it out loud but Jack had a lot more experience at these things. Plus, she knew for a fact that if there was anything they *could* do, Jack would be the first to do it, because it's Mac in that hospital bed right now. There was literally nothing that could stop him. So for him to propose a break and sleep, he must know that they were at a dead end at the moment.

 

"Yeah okay, might be a good idea..." she agreed, unfolding the packaging of the food. When the scent of the sandwich hit her nostrils, she realised how hungry she really was, she just had been too preoccupied to notice earlier.

 

Jack placed the sandwich and bottle of water for Bozer next to him on the nightstand for when the younger man woke up before he settled back in his chair with his own. He ate in slow bites, not that he wasn't hungry, on the contrary, his body demanded sustenance, it's just that his appetite wasn't really there, not with Mac lying in front of him, motionless and badly hurt.

 

The soft vibration in his jeans pocket startled him some time later, after Riley had fallen asleep as well and he was left alone with his thoughts again. The guilt that he hadn't been there to protect Mac.

 

_< Just checking in to let you know, I finally finished the move... the last box is inside and I'm ready to crash now. What's the news? Did you find Mac?_

 

Rebecca. Jack sighed softly after he checked the time, running a hand over his face.

 

>Beccs, I'm really sorry! Yeah, we found him, with a lot of luck really... Kid had an accident, a bad one... he's out for now, docs say he'll come around with time again, though. Fingers crossed that his genius brain didn't suffer too much, but otherwise he's stable.

 

_< Shit, Jack, I'm sorry! But hey, it's Mac, he'll pull through for sure! And don't you dare feel guilty for anything, a) you couldn't have done anything, chances are that you would lie right next to him now if you had been there and b) I'm a big girl, it took longer than I'd hoped but it's fine, he needs you more now. I know how much that kid means to you! It's fine, promise._

 

Jack huffed tiredly, shaking his head. His sister was a good woman, way to good for the world. Her understanding nature certainly came from their mother's side.

 

>You know me too well, sis. But I'll try to keep that in mind and when all this is done, I'll make sure to visit again and then I'll take you out properly, alright? Just, maybe include Mac in your bedtime talk with the man upstairs, alright?

 

_< Will do, promise. Get some rest! Good night._

 

He slipped his phone back in the pocket with a sigh, turning his gaze back to Mac. Gently he took the younger man's hand in his own again, resting his arms on the bed.

 

"You come back to us quickly, buddy. You hear me? All this is a hot mess and we really could use some Mac-thinking here!" he murmured softly. "We're really worried here, Mac, don't you ever do something like that again or I'll go and buy one of those gps tracker things they put on dogs and chip you with it."

 

Jack was met with silence to that statement, of course but in his mind he could see Mac's horrified reaction to the mere suggestion.

 

~*~

 

Jack came out of his doze to the low whisper of Bozer.

 

"... happen, bro? How did they know?" the young agent asked is friend apparently.

 

Opening his eyes, Jack immediately looked at Mac to see if his partner had woken up already against all odds. The blond however laid unchanged, eyes closed, breathing silently.

 

A quick glance to the two-seater showed that Riley was sleeping, her laptop clutched to her chest. If Jack had to guess, he'd say the hacker had woken up at some point, started following up on their idea and fell asleep again while working.

 

Satisfied that his whole family was accounted for, something Bozer said actually clicked in Jack's brain.

"What? What did you just say?" he asked, startling the younger.

 

"Jeez, Jack, I thought you were asleep. What do you mean?" Bozer asked confusedly.

 

"Sorry, just woke up again, didn't mean to fall asleep in the first place. You were saying something when I woke up, can you repeat that?" Jack sat up in his chair, stretching his arms over his head, turning his head left and right to get full movement back in his neck.

 

"Oh, I hope I didn't wake you, I was just thinking... I mean, it's too targeted for a coincidence, you said so yourself yesterday but how could this happen then? How could they know Mac would drive out here this weekend, at that time, on that road? I doubt he talked with anyone outside Phoenix about this trip other than Valerie and even inside the people who probably knew can be counted on two hands or something, us included. So how did they know?"

 

"Boze, that's a very good question. One I can't believe we haven't asked before..." Jack said grimly. His face had turned dark and serious, when he pulled out his mobile phone.

 

"I might have a theory as to why..." Riley's voice startled them, apparently dragged to consciousness by their conversation. "Because if you're thinking what I'm thinking, then we wouldn't like the answer, it would mean the Phoenix is compromised, it would mean we're not safe anymore... again." she said and Jack could see the hurt in her eyes that suggestion sparked inside her.

 

"You mean a mole? Another one after the whole Thornton thing?" Bozer asked incredulously.

 

"That's exactly what we mean, Boze. I don't like this any more than you do, but it really is the only sensible conclusion when you think about it." Jack said, lifting his phone to his ear.

 

"Dalton, I hope you have good reason to call this early!" the snarky voice of their director sounded from the speaker.

 

"A- I always have a good reason to call you at any time of day, B- don't even try to convince me that you're not at the office already and C- you're on speaker." Jack replied.

 

"Alright, you got me... what can I do for you?" Matty sighed, her own exhaustion audible.

 

"Are you alone? It's important!" the oldest agent said.

 

"I am? Jack, what's going on? Did you guys find something?"

 

"Nothing concrete but we have reason to believe that this might have been an inside job."

 

"An inside- Jack, do you realize what you're insinuating? This is a serious accusation!" Matty replied, a hint of shock and surprise in her voice.

 

"We are fully aware of what this 'accusation' might entail, boss, it doesn't change the facts though." Riley joined the conversation for the first time. "Bozer raised a good point in regards of this whole 'accident'." Encouragingly she looked at Bozer, nodding at him to tell their boss what he'd said before.

 

"Yeah, the thing is, I was wondering about... how did they know? Only a small number of people, present people excluded, knew where and when Mac would drive here. The time and place for this was perfectly chosen, not to mention the fact that whoever did this, basically disappeared. How could they do this without concrete information and some serious tech behind it all?" Bozer explained.

 

There was silence on the other side of the line and the three agents looked at each other anxiously.

 

"To further add to the argument, Riley went over the traffic footage with a fine tooth comb and nothing showed up, we have yet to go and look around the area if they maybe ditched the crash car or if they did indeed manipulate the footage. Something is not right, Matty. This was no coincidence!" Jack told their boss what he had talked about with Riley the night before.

 

"I understand what you're saying, Jack, all of you, but we have to be really careful with this. Now, I don't disagree with you on this, the evidence, thin as it might be, does indeed suggest inside information. But before we don't have proof, we can't do anything without tipping whoever this was off." Matty fell silent for a moment, probably thinking through various scenarios this could play out. "Alright... Riley, you stay with Mac and work your magic, if someone tempered with the traffic cameras, you should be able to find evidence for that. See if you can retrieve whatever information that had been changed and more importantly try to trace back the hack. If it was someone at Phoenix, I need to know. Jack, Bozer, you go and check the area around the accident site once again, this car has to have come from somewhere, look around for evidence outside the actual site perimeter. You know the drill, Jack. Keep an eye out for people who might be suspicious. Also I'd like for all of you, but especially you, Jack, to think back if Mac had trouble with anyone around here, someone who might have held a grudge against him to do something like this. If this person had a closer connection to Thornton, well... that would explain even more."

 

After the whole incident with their previous director, Phoenix had undergone a very thorough security check to find potential accomplices and arrest them as well. That didn't necessarily mean that they had found all the bad eggs though.

 

The team agreed to their orders and Jack ended the call.

"I guess, we have our work cut out for the day, eh? But first, I'll make a breakfast run to the diner down the street, we can't afford the consequences of living off of hospital coffee now. That stuff is lethal. While I'm gone, would you go ahead and rent a room around here somewhere? I know, I won't sleep there but maybe one of you wants to catch a couple of hours in a proper bed once in a while. Just make sure that the room has a proper shower, alright?" Jack said, getting to his feet, stretching once more with a series of loud cracks.

 

"Yeah maybe you should sleep in a bed more often, old man. That sounds kind of painful. But you got it, bring some chocolate for me as well, yeah? I'll need that."

 

The older saluted playfully and left the room.

 

~*~

 

"... there's no way, everybody likes Mac. I've never seen or heard him argue with anyone. Scientific disagreements maybe, but those are quickly and easily resolved usually... that's why I'm saying, no way!" Bozer grumbled, as he followed Jack in every growing circles around the crash site.

 

The older man smirked softly at the rightous anger of Mac's oldest friend, his eyes directed to his surroundings, sharp and attentive.

 

"You know, overall I agree with you, Boze but you've been with us for a short time only. Mac is generally liked but he did butt heads with quite a handful of other agents before, mostly over stupid stuff, I give you that. There are some who begrudge him his special place inside the agency, they hate taking orders by him on account of his age, his training, his refusal to carry and use a gun... you name it, it probably happened. Some came around after they worked together and they saw him in action, others not so much. It was a lot worse when we first started at the DXS, fresh out of Afghanistan. I had experience in the business but Mac... let's say he was a rather sore spot for many others in the beginning. And off the bat I could think of about five agents from back than who are still with the Phoenix. Usually we give each other a wide circle, there is an unspoken agreement that we won't ever go on missions together and it worked so far. But I wouldn't be surprised if one of them took the opportunity. Plus... they were all recruited by Thornton as well." Jack explained to a rather shocked Bozer.

 

The younger man never had realised any of this.

"Yeah but how did they know? I mean, if you guys tend to avoid each other, Mac hardly would have... huh..." Bozer stopped, sentence trailing off.

 

"Would have what, Boze... what is it?" Jack had walked a couple steps further before he realised his companion had stopped, looking intently at something.

 

"Have a look at this, Jack. Is it just me or are those scratches at the exact height a car side mirror would be?" he pointed at a rather shallow nick in the tree bark next to the path they were currently following back towards the crash side.

 

The older agent stepped closer, his flashlight already out to look more closely.

"You would be completely right there, Bozer, well spotted, good job!" Jack pulled a fresh Kleenex from his pocket and his combat knife from the sheath around his ankle. "Here hold the light for me real quick." Carefully he scratched very small particles of paint from the tree into the cloth before he packed that away in a plastic bag. He snapped a couple of pictures from the tree as well.

 

"Judging from this, we're looking for a black car, not that I'm surprised or anything, it would have been nice if they used something more recognisable like yellow or orange or something, would have made the job easier... anyway, it looks like they were professional enough to go back and make sure to hide their tire tracks but they must have nicked the tree without noticing it when they drove towards Mac." Jack looked at the place. "This is about the height of my shoulder, wouldn't you agree? So I suppose we're looking for a bigger truck, the kind we also use... black, most likely bulletproof and reinforced... Boze, you really did a good job noticing this because I doubt we'll find anything more here. If I'm right about the truck, I fear the crash had only little effect on it. We assume from the angle and what little we were able to see on the wreck, that Mac was hit in the side, pushed off the street. The impact should have been enough to deploy Mac's airbags, shake him properly and daze him well enough to pull him out of the car, it might have been the cause of his shattered leg but I'm not entirely convinced about that anymore either. Point is, the impact on Mac was quite hard but with a big and reinforced truck like our tac trucks, there probably are only small damages on that if at all. And I'm sure Mac could give you a fancy scientific explanation as to why as well."

 

Bozer listened closely to Jack's explanation. He had only seen the pictures of what was left of Mac's truck, so he had to take Jack's word for the damages that actually had been visible.

"Yeah but what about the tire tracks?"

 

"This here is a soft dirt road, if we're thinking professionals they have the equipment to cover their tracks. And on the street, well, I know we use the most generic kind of tires, virtually untraceable because they are that common and even if there had been traces, they have been properly destroyed once the emergency units arrived."

 

"So this is a dead end..." Bozer said dejectedly.

 

Jack clapped a comforting hand on Bozer's back and smiled.

"Hey no, we might not get a lot more information from this but I'd say we have a hell of a lot more to go on now than we had this morning. All thanks to your excellent observation skills. Come on, let's go back to our car and take all this to the police station. They surely can analyze the paint. Then we buy some Chinese take out and see what Riley found in the meantime."

 

~*~

 

In all honesty, Jack wasn't as hopeful as he pretended to be in front of Bozer and later on Riley, but he saw what Mac's condition did to the younger ones and he had to try to keep their morals up. He couldn't do anything for Mac at the moment, so the least he could do was make sure that his remaining young charges weren't loosing their mind in the face of the events.

 

Riley had made a little progress by the time the two men returned with food. She couldn't retrieve the missing footage yet but she had found definitive digital footprints of someone messing with the traffic cameras around the time of the accident and she was able to pinpoint the hacking at least inside the US. Since she couldn't use Phoenix resources, everything took a lot more time than usually but she was working hard to get more information.

 

The shrill sound of a rather tinny version of the 'Imperial March' startled them all out of their thoughts.

Jack fumbled for his mobile on the small side table and accepted the video call by their boss.

 

Matty looked tense, exhausted. Drawn almost when she looked at them all over the camera.

"Hey guys, how's our boy doing?" were the first words out of her mouth and it warmed Jack's heart to see that Matty cared about Mac but it also tipped him off that she was playing for time, like she had news she'd like to delay.

 

"As well as can be expected. He's still asleep but stable. During their last rounds, the doc confirmed that the swelling is slowly receding like they anticipated. With some luck, give it a day or two, Mac *should* wake up again. But, although I don't doubt your interest in his wellbeing, that's not the reason for your call, am I right?" The oldest agent asked.

 

"That's good to hear, at least one of us has good news. What I called you about gives me great pain but I think it's safe to say that your suspicion proved correct. After your call about the car paint and your short list of people you know had a grudge on Mac and who you wouldn't put it past to actually do something about it, I took the liberty of digging around. I am sorry to say that Agent Ramirez has gone AWOL. He had taken a vacation day the day before yesterday and hasn't returned to HQ since. And to add insult to injury, one of our very own tac trucks is unaccounted for for the same time period." Matty sighed, regret on her face. "The trucks leave and return so regularly that nobody really missed it yet and with this whole thing, one missing agent hadn't been very high up on my priority list since it stood to reason that he just added to his vacation without authorisation."

 

"So what you're saying is, Mac got attacked by one of our own agents with one of our own fucking trucks?" Jack snapped, fury bubbling in his veins. "Just wait until I get my hands on this bastard... he should have been kicked out a long time ago after..."

 

"After what, Jack?" Bozer asked soundlessly, mind still reeling from the news. Riley and Matty both had turned their gazes at Jack as well, curious.

 

"It's been quite a while ago already, months before all of you came to the agency. Ramirez joined Mac and me on a mission and he apparently didn't like Mac on principle already because he was so young. Now you know Mac when he gets in the zone, while I listen to his science babble and find it amusing even if it goes right over my head, Ramirez apparently felt like Mac was mocking him or something stupid like that. Not that we realised it then, the mission ended successfully and everything was good. Or so we thought. A few days after, Ramirez called Mac to the training area under some pretense of teaching him a specific defense kick or something. The two of them were all alone and I'm convinced to this day that Ramirez would have beat him to death then and there had I not interupted him." Jack let his eyes trail over Mac's still form on the bed. "The kid was bleeding all over, ribs and nose broken, barely holding on to consciousness when I got to him. Patty suspended Ramirez for two weeks and ordered mandatory anger management sessions. She sat down with the both of them and Mac... that stupid, big hearted puppy agreed to never mention the incident again, it wasn't officially added to Ramirez' file and from that day onward we never worked together anymore, avoiding each other at all costs. And now it came back with a vengeance and nearly bit him in the ass."

 

Riley let go of a low whistle at the end of Jack's story and Bozer shook his head disbelievingly.

 

"I can't believe it, I thought Mac had learned at least something from dealing with bullies all through his school life. Damn it."

 

"I agree with you, Bozer but we all also know that Mac always wants to see the good in people. It's who he is..." Jack sighed.

 

"Be it as it may, this incident, in addition to all her other digressions, shows a gross abuse of power and trust as director of a clandestine agency like the Phoenix -or DXS as it was then." Matty growled, her personal feelings about her predecessor turned traitor obvious on her face.

 

"So what now? We have a name but not much more..." Bozer asked thoughtfully.

 

"I disagree with you, Bozer, we have a lot more than a name now. We know Ramirez used a Phoenix truck. There should be a gps tracking system in it. Now, I know for a fact that Ramirez isn't bad with all this hacking stuff but he's far from a match for our very own Riley. Kid, any chance you can get into the system and remotely switch it back on?" Jack asked.

 

"Assuming that he did not destroy it physically but just tried to disable it, I should be able to do that, could take a little while and I'll need the details of the truck though." the hacker responded.

 

"I've already sent all the information I have on the vehicle and Ramirez, you should be good to go, Riley. In addition to that I enabled one of my directorial security measures -guys, I shouldn't tell you about this at all, so this *needs* to stay between us- every outgoing or incoming call from and to the Phoenix gets recorded and automatically checked for key words sets by me now. Anything that might even remotely refer to this incident will immediately appear on my radar. Although I'm reasonably sure that Ramirez is on some crazy one-person vendetta, if he should try to contact anyone else in this agency, I will know about it."

 

"Woah, you can do that? That's crazy..." Bozer exclaimed. "It sure has it's perks being the boss."

 

"Yeah and it also explains how Patty got away with her double agent act for so long, am I right?" Jack raised an eyebrow pensively.

 

"You might be right about that Jack, but that's definitely a conversation for another time. Riley get to work, I'm sure you know what to do. Catch this asshole but be careful. We do have to assume he's armed and dangerous, a highly trained kind of dangerous. One agent in the hospital is more than enough!" Matty gets her orders out. "And Jack, if possible, incapacitate him, I would love to have a very thorough chat with Agent Ramirez. If he puts up a fight though, I wouldn't resent you for putting a bullet in his head, understood?"

 

"Loud and clear, boss!" Jack nodded grimly, ending the call. "Alright, Riles, what can we do?"

 

"You could get me another coffee, that would be much appreciated, other than that, maybe take a nap so you're ready to go by the time I have a location." Riley replied, already quickly typing away again. Having new information and data to work with certainly gave her an energy boost.

 

"You sure?" Jack looked a little skeptical. He didn't want to leave for sure but he also knew Ramirez. He was a highly trained operative and as Matty mentioned, armed and definitely dangerous, it would actually be a good idea to be well rested before taking him on.

 

"I am, Jack. Look, don't pretend like you slept more then 30 minutes last night, the night before that I highly doubt it was anything close to somewhat healty six hours either, so yes, go! Take advantage of the -judging by the pictures- luxurious shower and king size bed I booked at the hotel down the road for at least an hour. We'll be fine here! Bozer and I stay with Mac and I call you if I get to the location earlier."

 

"I second that, this asshole needs to be taken down none too gently, so you go and re-charge. It's exactly what Mac would want you to do! I'll go and get the coffee." Bozer added, already on his feet but Jack could see that his thoughts were only halfway with them. This turn of events obviously hit hard for the young man, especially with the information of the previous altercation between Ramirez and Mac.

 

"Alright you two, looks like I'm out-voted in this debate, you win. Where exactly do I need to go and under what name?"

 

~*~

 

"Got him!" Riley exclaimed, exactly two hours and 14 minutes later.

 

Jack had returned to the room pretty much exactly 90 minutes after he left, looking freshly showered and at least a bit rested. He was sitting in his regular chair next to Mac, checking over his weapons and remaining gear while Bozer had pushed his chair a bit closer to the door, to warn Jack in time if someone came in.

 

"Where?" the older asked, already on his feet and strapping on his vest.

 

"For an agent he doesn't seem to be all that smart..." Riley murmured under her breath. "He's in a motel a couple of towns over, the truck is parked out front and he checked in under one of his Phoenix aliases if you believe it."

 

Bozer looked up.

"What? You can't be serious. Did he really think we wouldn't look for him?"

 

Jack opened a small box from his bag, taking an earpiece for himself and handing the box to Riley and Bozer.

"He might be playing with us, it might be a trap... personally I'd assume that something had tipped him over the edge now, who knows what really is wrong in his brain to have done this but he must have been sure that Mac wouldn't live to tell the tale and that he had destroyed everything to ID him, so who would come looking really. He always had been quite self-assured."

 

Jack shared his own idea with the other two while on his way back to the car. Riley stayed back again, Bozer would go with Jack for backup.

 

"That would actually make sense and in a little while he would have returned to the Phoenix and nobody would have known. Bastard. Alright, I send all the information to Bozer's phone, you have about 30 minutes drive until you get there. And please, someone kick him in the balls for me, yeah?"

 

The two men looked at each other, wincing at the tought but chuckled anyway.

"Will do, Riley!" Bozer replied, he was quite certain that that would be about the extend of the action he was joining in on anyway.

 

**

 

The little while it took to drive to their destination, the three agents were silent.

"There it is..." Jack nodded at the truck in the parking lot.

 

"You there? Good, I informed Matty, she already dispatched a small tac team to take over -and I quote- 'whatever's left over of Ramirez after Jack and Bozer are done with him'. ETA about 2 hours. Go get him."

 

"That we can manage, come on Boze! Stay close but behind me, understood?"

 

Jack rounded the truck, his gun drawn, checking the vehicle for damages and the inside for bad surprises.

"The car seems clear, nobody inside and no sign of potentially dangerous and explosive materials."

 

"I think there is blood on the driver seat, though..." Bozer added, looking at a rather dark stain on the upper right side of the seat.

 

"You're right, that's definitely blood... could be Mac's or our boy managed to get a good lick in himself. Good for him." the older agent nodded, then led the way up the stairs towards the room Riley had told them was taken under one of Ramirez' aliases.

 

After a quick countdown from three, Jack kicked in the door with such enthusiasm that Bozer was really impressed.

"Ramirez, you stupid son of a..." Jack started, as he stepped inside the room, but couldn't complete the sentence as their target came at him bulldozer style, knocking Jack's hand in a way that he had to let go of his gun. That was a good thing for Jack, however, since he now had this fist free to punch Ramirez in the face, minutely adjusting his aim with a smirk, when he noticed an already blue and swollen part over the other's cheek and nose.

 

Ramirez reared back in pain, grunting and kicking Jack at the same time. He hadn't noticed Bozer coming in after Jack and soon regretted this lapse in concentration. The young agent had picked up a piece of what was left of the door and knocked it over Ramirez's head, sending him head first to the floor which Jack took advantage of and quickly secured the man's arms behind his back, pulling him back up on his knees.

 

Jack looked up with a dark smirk.

"Nice swing, Boze, now would you do the honour?"

 

"Gladly! Hey asshole, Riley says 'hello' too!" Bozer mirrored Jack's smirk and swiftly kicked the man in the groin.

 

The bleeding man yowled in pain, doubling over and staying on the floor.

"You should have kept your crazy fingers to yourself, Ramirez. Once you got away with something like this, this time you'll vanish down a dark hole never to be seen again, I promise you that!" Jack spat, walking to the door. "Keep an eye on him, yeah? Kick him in the head if he dares to move." he added, glancing over his shoulder at his friend.

 

Bozer nodded, although he was pretty sure that Jack didn't even see anymore. He hadn't noticed it before but now that the job was done, he saw how stiffly Jack held himself, the tension in his shoulders, his hands curled into tight fists that were shaking slightly. The younger realised only now how much restraint Jack had exercised over himself not to beat Ramirez into a bloody pulp.

 

"How are you guys doing?" Riley chose that moment to adress the silence on their side of the comms. She must have heard the very short fight and assumed that the job was done.

 

"As well as can be expected. Ramirez is secured and won't move another muscle if he knows what's good for him. I'm fine and Jack... that'll take a bit. What's the current ETA of the team?"

 

"They should be about 90 minutes out. By the way, the doc came in some time after you left, I didn't want to tell you before in case it would distract you. They took Mac for another CT scan of his head to check his condition. It appears that there are no signs of further damage, hemorrhaging or otherwise, and the swelling is almost completely gone. They will keep him on the strong meds until tomorrow morning but then they want to try reducing the dosage, so it should be easier for Mac to wake up." Riley informed Bozer, sounding a little choked from relief.

 

"That's awesome news, thank you! That's exactly what I needed to hear right now." he glanced outside, keeping track of Jack who apparently had removed his earpiece since there was no reaction at all from him. "I'll tell Jack later, I don't think he heard you, Riles." he huffed softly, feeling a little overwhelmed by emotion.

 

A lot happened after all but it seemed like now it took a turn for the better.

 

**  


Just like Riley had told them, the reinforcements arrived about 90 minutes later, taking over Ramirez and taking him back to LA and the Phoenix. Bozer suspected that it would be the last time they saw the man, knowing Matty, he would already be under lock and key by the time they could return home.

 

"Are you alright?" Bozer asked softly when they were on the road back to the hospital.

 

Jack sighed, taking his time with his answer.

"I will be, Boze. Right now, I'm just glad that we got him and that is looks like he was a solitary incident and no mole endangering national security. It's just, I keep wondering if all this could have been prevented if Patty had kicked him out like, well, like she should have done."

 

"You're feeling guilty." it wasn't a question, it was a statement. Bozer could hear it in Jack's voice, saw it before in his shaking fists. "The thing is, you shouldn't be. More importantly Mac wouldn't want you to be. Nobody could have known and we both know Mac, if he didn't want Ramirez to be kicked out back then, he would have done everything in his power to keep it from happening, even if Thornton had decided differently. For a genius, he is stupid like that."

 

Jack huffed softly and Bozer deliberately ignored the slight wet and choked quality to the sound.

"Look, I'm not saying any of this could have been prevented, neither am I saying that it would have happened for sure. The thing is, if you think about it, this way we had it quite easy and until recently Ramirez apparently did his job right or Matty would have kicked his ass some time ago already. What would have been the alternative, Thornton would have fired him, surely no other agency would have taken him in, his clear dislike of Mac would have turned to hate and he could have gone to the dark side. And I assure you, I might be new to the business but this take down would have been a lot more difficult in that case. Just imagine Ramirez crossing paths with Murdoc..." Bozer shuddered at his own thought.

 

"Yeah alright, I get it. You sure are a wise man in your own right, Bozer, thank you. I'm glad Mac had you in his life for so long." Jack admitted with a smile. He got his emotions back under control by then. "Now our boy just has to wake up again..."

 

"He will, soon he will. You didn't hear before but Riley mentioned it." Bozer told Jack what the hacker had told him before. The relief that flooded Jack at the news was almost palpable in the car. "And Jack, just so we're clear, I'm glad you found your way into Mac's life and always brought him home alive."

 

~*~

 

When the men returned to the hospital room and had a quick check in with Matty, Riley excused herself to the hotel room to take a shower herself. Bozer followed a little while later to do the same and to return with celebration take-out back to Jack.

 

The older agent had just silently watched over Mac. Now that the immediate danger and the culprit of the attack had been caught, nothing and nobody would be able to get Jack to leave Mac alone. Not once, unless he was laid up in the hospital himself (and even then they usually shared a room), he had let Mac wake up alone. From his time at the CIA, Jack knew from experience how devastatingly lonely it could feel to wake up on your own in the hospital. It was occasions like these that had made him doubt his job and had brought him back to the Sandbox where he found the scrawny blond guy in front of him in the first place. And Jack promised himself that Mac would never have to live through that as long as he could help it.

 

He sat there all through the night, dozing lightly but never really sleeping, and into the next morning. He stoically watched the doctor fiddle with Mac's chart and then the IV's. He gratefully took the breakfast Riley and Bozer brought back for him, listened to their soft chatter, his eyes never leaving Mac, though.

 

It was late afternoon when Mac's heart monitor spiked for a little bit, sending the nurses into a small frenzy. But nothing seemed to be amiss, so they continued waiting.

 

Late afternoon turned into early evening and then back to night again. Riley had succumbed to sleep at some point, curled up on the two-seater with a soft pink blanket spread over her that the night nurse had brought in with a soft and indulgent smile.

 

Bozer, his head propped up on his hand, fought sleep like a toddler at bed time and failing miserably. Jack smiled at that fondly.

 

Distracted by the rest of their little family for only a second, it took Jack a moment to notice that Mac had opened his eyes. More or less at least, looking up at the white ceiling, sleepy and confused.

 

"Mac..." Jack whispered, cradling the hand closest to him in his own. Carefully Mac turned his head, blinking slowly but finally what he saw seemed to make sense to him and a small but happy smile spread over his lips. "Hey there buddy, how are you doing, huh? You gave us all quite a fright there..."

 

Jack watched what looked like Mac trying to tell him something but, much to the blond's frustration, his voice didn't want to properly cooperate just yet. The older smiled and squeezed the smaller hand gently.

"Take it easy, kid, you've been asleep for quite some time and you got a pretty hard hit to the head among other things. Give it a moment... here..."  Jack held a cup with water and a straw closer to Mac's lips, letting him drink slowly. After the spike in heartrate earlier, the doc said that she assumed Mac would wake up sooner or later and to have it ready because he's going to need it. Jack was more than glad that Bozer diligently went ahead and got the things immediately.

 

"Sorry... to... worry... you. What... happened?" Were the first words Mac finally brought over his lips.

 

"Hey, none of that, kid, this was definitely not your fault. You got... attacked, someone crashed your car, beat you up and left you for dead... does any of this ring a bell, buddy?" Jack knew he probably should tread carefully with the information but he wouldn't lie to Mac, because sooner rather than later he would remember on his own anyway and he couldn't have him mad at him because of something like that.

 

Mac's eyes widened and he tried to sit up a little, quickly thinking better of it, hissing in pain.

Jack was instantly on his feet, gently pressing Mac down on the pillows, shushing him softly.

"Jack... Ramirez... it was... Ramirez..." the younger pressed out between clenched teeth, breathing carefully.

 

"I know, Mac, I know... don't worry about it. We got him... he won't ever lay another finger on you, I promise you that... I'd wager he's breaking down in tears right about now with Matty questioning him, it's all good. You just concentrate on getting better now, yeah?"

 

Mac blinked up at his partner tiredly, slowly processing what the other had said, relaxing a bit more into the pillows when he understood that he was safe.

 

"That's it, just relax and get better, that will take a good while, I'm afraid, no way to improvise out of that one..." Jack chuckled softly.

 

"Mac!" Despite the commotion before, Bozer startled awake just then, his eyes zeroing in on his best friend's open eyes. "Mac, you're awake!"

 

"Ungh... what?" sounded a sleep heavy voice behind them all.

 

"Ri, Mac's awake, look!" Bozer whisper-yelled at the hacker who almost face planted to the floor because of the blanket in her attempt to get to the bed quickly.

 

"Hey there, sleepyhead!" she grinned at the blond man.

 

"Hey there.. yourself, guys!" Mac whispered, smiling at all three of them. He felt incredibly warm in that moment, having his small family close by, staying with him, instead of taking the easy way out and leaving him behind.

 

"Man, it's good to hear your voice, raspy and tired and all...." Bozer grinned, squeezing Mac's hand on his side.

 

Mac just huffed softly at that, looking every one of them gratefully in the eyes, smiling. The actual words weren't needed, sure he would tell them 'thank you' later but in that moment, they understood perfectly.

 

"Go to sleep, kiddo, you need to get your strength back up, we'll be right here when you wake up again, promise!" Jack whispered and Bozer and Riley, feeling lighter than they did since all this started, nodded in agreement.

 

"Sleep well, Mac!" Riley murmued.

"Sweet dreams, bro!" Bozer added.

"Good night, son!" Jack finished off, almost inaudibly as they all watched Mac drift back to sleep with a smile on his face.

 

Now, everything was right again. It wasn't good just yet, but it would be again, for sure.

 

And if Matty Webber uttered a relieved 'Thank god', followed by a big smiled after she got a text from Jack, telling her that Mac had been awake for a bit, nobody would mention it.

 

A couple of days later, when Mac was able to stay awake for longer stretches at a time and didn't look like he got assaulted by a meat grinder just as much anymore, Valerie's dad drove the girl by for a visit. Mac had apologized profusely for missing her science fair but the girl was just happy Mac would be alright again and proceeded to tell him all about it, complete with various pictures and videos and a whole lot of science babble.

 

The day before the four of them were set to return home again, Rebecca video called her brother, to see how Mac was doing and they all talked for a little while, promising Jack's sister that the next time they had some time off, they *all* would come down to Texas to visit her. Things were definitely looking up for them again.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, fun fact, I've watched 'The Upside' recently with my friend and the actor who plays James MacGyver appeared in the movie. Is it just me or do others have the same problem of immediate dislike when seeing the man now, based on being such a ginormous asshole in the show? (Spoiler alert, he's not that much better in the movie.)


End file.
